Race cars such as are used in the NASCAR NEXTEL Race circuit and in the Busch Racing circuit seek competitive advantages that can be obtained from certain structural modifications on the vehicle itself. One such structural modification is the canting of the roof structure so that the weld lines in the roof assembly are angled with respect to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle in a direction that extends toward the right side of the vehicle as the weld line projects rearwardly. The canted roof structure and angled weld lines present slightly less drag as the race car is proceeding around the race track. The lowered drag presents a competitive advantage.
Generally, the roof structure is canted manually by cutting the roof of the stock vehicle apart and re-welding the roof in the desired orientation. Each owner of a race car can have a different opinion on the exact angle at which the roof lines are to be canted, and thus, the racing cars cannot simply be constructed with canted roof lines. The process of re-configuring the roof into a canted orientation at the angle desired is highly labor intensive. Accordingly, the process is expensive and time consuming, resulting in delays in getting the race car ready for the track.
It would be desirable to provide a roof structure for use in conjunction with a race car that would enable the roof lines to be canted at whatever angle is desired and that would enable the roof structure to be placed into the canted configuration quickly and inexpensively.